Investigators from the Frankfurt am Main customs investigation department conducted several searches and seized property worth about 7.5 million euros in Schifferstadt (a town in Germany’s Rhineland-Palatinate region). About 250,000 euros was seized as well as business documents and four expensive cars. The total collateral value is estimated at least 500,000 euro.
Searches and seizures were conducted to deprive a 53-year-old suspect of access to assets he allegedly acquired through illegal activities. The accused, whose identity has not been revealed, is suspected of illegally selling and exporting passenger cars to Russia and Belarus in violation of sanctions.
It is alleged that the accused has at the moment sold or exported at least 152 cars. Among the seized vehicles were an expensive motor home and two models of an American electric vehicle manufacturer that were put up for sale.
The EU sanctions imposed in 2022 and extended in 2023 prohibit the export of vehicles worth more than 50,000 euros to Russia, as well as new and used vehicles with an engine capacity of over 1.9l, all electric and hybrid vehicles.
Despite the sanctions, luxury vehicles from European manufacturers continue to be actively supplied to Russia via third countries. For example, a popular car sales website in Russia offers five new Mercedes-Benz cars manufactured in 2019, each priced over 50,000 euro:
